Forgive me if I seem to be focusing quite a lot of space on Louisiana, but please understand that the state is now a Petri dish for privatization of public education on a massive scale. To keep costs down, the state is doing its best to drive out experienced teachers and replace them with TFA.
Another reason I post often about Louisiana is that it has so many excellent bloggers. They are smart, fearless, and relentless. They help the rest of us understand the systematic destruction of public education (a process now called “reform”).
When I spoke in Baton Rouge last Thursday, I debated the president of the state board of education, Chas Roemer. Chas described himself as “a redneck from northern Louisiana,” but Locals know that his father was governor, he graduated from Harvard, he is an avid supporter of choice, and his sister heads the state charter school association.
One of the state’s best bloggers, Crazy Crawfish, was there that day. He used to work in the Louisiana Department of Education. He didn’t get to ask his question because time was up. Here is his summary of the event and the question he wished he could ask but didn’t get a chance.:
Diane Ravitch's blog 
In today’s Advocate an informed Louisiana citizen writes:
Letter: Public schools are essential
http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/5382612-123/letter-public-schools-are-essential
Thank you very much for the nice intro and your visit, Diane. I think it helped revitalize the folks here who under a ceaseless siege by the corrupt charlatans of school reform.
Nice article, Ed. Although that may result in the expunging of another Founding Father from voucher/charter school text books.
I hate that when people try to come off all folksy. People can see through a phony facade.
Reblogged this on Crazy Crawfish's Blog and commented:
I just thought of a new possible tagline for myself!
Crazy Crawfish: ruining Louisiana blogger’s reputations since 2012. 😉
From what I have seen, very little organized opposition exists to what amounts as a Big Brother takeover of our schools. If I had children, I would immmediately pull them out of public school. No way would I let Murdoch, Gates and their lapdog Obama exploit my children under the guise of education reform.
Parents need to organize and build their own schools. Many educated people are unemployed right now, so why not pool your money and hire somebody to teach your children reading, writing, math, and science? There are homeschooled children who attend college, and not every college requires the SAT exam. I know that’s not ideal, but to me that’s better than letting any child be tracked like an animal.
I also think that this information needs to be available in Spanish. The Latino organizations are all on board with CC, and the Spanish news station Univision is in favor of it too. CA Governor Jerry Brown has resisted InBloom so far, but he originally resisted CC, and finally gave in, so who knows how long he will be able to hold out.